The Lightest Object in the Universe

A Novel

"This is a novel with that exact balance of heart and momentum. Dazzling." --Christian Kiefer, author of The Animals

What if the end times allowed people to see and build the world anew? This is the landscape that Kimi Eisele creates in her surprising and original debut novel. Evoking the spirit of such monumental love stories as Cold Mountain and the creative vision of novels like Station Eleven, The Lightest Object in the Universe tells the story of what happens after the global economy collapses and the electrical grid goes down.

In this new world, Carson, on the East Coast, is desperate to find Beatrix, a woman on the West Coast who holds his heart. Working his way along a cross-country railroad line, he encounters lost souls, clever opportunists, and those who believe they'll be saved by an evangelical preacher in the middle of the country. Meanwhile, Beatrix and her neighbors begin to construct a cooperative community that suggests the end could be, in fact, a bright beginning.

Without modern means of communication, will Beatrix and Carson reach each other, and what will be left of the old world if they do? The answers may lie with a fifteen-year-old girl who could ultimately decide the fate of the cross-country lovers.

The Lightest Object in the Universe is a story about resilience and adaptation, a testament to the power of community, where our best traits, born of necessity, begin to emerge.

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Meet the Author

Kimi Eisele

Review quotes

“Kimi Eisele’s first novel is a love story set in a landscape where everything (government, history, infrastructure) has collapsed—except our need for one another and the struggle to persevere. In such a world, love may be on the run, but it can still be a transforming force. What’s required is a kind of faith: in ourselves, in one another, in a future that is no more or less uncertain than it has always been. The experience of humanity, in other words, which Eisele brings to every page of this deeply moving narrative.” —David L. Ulin, author of Sidewalking: Coming to Terms with Los Angeles

“It might be an oxymoron to call an apocalyptic novel hopeful, but The Lightest Object in the Universe is a testament to the power of love in the darkest times. Like a near-future Cold Mountain, it's the story of a man's epic journey to reunite with the woman he loves, and a woman's determination to reimagine and rebuild after the fall. There's horror, yes, but more moments of ingenuity, generosity, and grace. I couldn't put it down.” —Sheri Holman, author of Witches on the Road Tonight

“A tale told in sentences starkly declarative of the gone world they describe, The Lightest Object in the Universe offers characters that linger long after the final page is turned. This is a novel with that exact balance of heart and momentum. Dazzling.” —Christian Kiefer, author of The Animals

“Post-apocalyptic stories are all the rage, but Kimi Eisele’s novel is a rarity. Her people don’t merely wander across a blighted wasteland; they form communities, till the soil, send their voices into the ether, and cling tenaciously to hope. The Lightest Object in the Universe is a triumphant story for anyone with a shred of faith left in the human spirit.” —David McGlynn, author of One Day You'll Thank Me

"It might be an oxymoron to call an apocalyptic novel hopeful, but The Lightest Object in the Universe, is a testament to the power of love in the darkest times. Like a near-future Cold Mountain, it's the story of a man's epic journey to reunite with the woman he loves, and a woman's determination to reimagine and rebuild after the fall. There's horror, yes, but more moments of ingenuity, generosity, and grace. I couldn't put it down.”—Sheri Holman, author of Witches on the Road Tonight